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Since I have lately developed an interest in the now-defunct Buran shuttle program (especially the Energia launch system), I decided to track down an addon for the Orbiter spaceflight sim so I could try it out: Here are some shots of a flight I took the shuttle on: Unfortunately, Buran was only orbited once in RL (and it was unmanned), and only two were built. Although the design was largely copied from NASA's orbiter, in many ways the Buran system turned out to be superior, largely owing to the fact that the Buran was built 5 years after the STS and thus the Russian designers were able to observe the STS and learn from NASA's mistakes and apply appropriate improvements, but the main reason was Energia booster that carried it, which is a standalone launch system that could carry many payloads unlike the STS's booster assembly, which relied in part on the 3 large external-tank fed engines on the shuttle. Since Energia can do all the work at liftoff, the only engines Buran has need for are the two smaller rockets equivilent to the OMS engines on the STS, allowing for a larger cargo bay in an airframe the same size. Also, Energia can propel Buran into a higher orbit than the STS... Anyway, enjoy the show:

1) Closeup of Buran and Energia on the launchpad at Baikonur Kosmodrome: the differences between Buran/Energia and the NASA shuttle should be obvious...


2) Another view of the Buran-Energia combo and it's launch pad complex


3)Liftoff!


4)T + 1:00. All systems normal...


5)60,000 meters and climbing: velocity now 1,700 meters per second


6)85,000 meters: The four Zenit boosters, (now expended) have automatically jettisoned: the engines in the Energia Core continue to soldier on: piloting this thing manually on takeoff is more demanding than the STS due to the line-of-thrust being offset from the center of mass, especially after booster separation.


7)The Energia Core continues to carry the shuttle into orbit: As should be obvious from this pic, the Core is more than just a fuel tank, unlike the Core on the STS launch system


The Core has now expended the last of it's fuel, leaving the shuttle in an eliptical orbit with a periapsis of about 340km and a apoapsis of 760km: Shortly after separation, the shuttle's own engines were fired to adjust the orbit a bit...


9)The Buran, now in an "adjusted" orbit, with a periapsis of 509km, and an apaopsis of 727km: the shuttle has completed about 3/4s of an orbit, and is now over Spain...


10)Time to open the cargo bay doors: inside is a generic payload module the shuttle will dock with during this flight.


11)Now to use the remote manipulator system to remove the module from the cargo bay...


12)That's as far out as I can get it: the RMS arm on the Buran has a more limited range of movement that the one on the STS, so I'll have to release the payload then maneuver around it in order to dock.


13)The shuttle has manuvered into a docking position with the module, and the airlock has been extended: now ready to ease it in for hard dock.


14)Fingers of Gold: At least that's how the many branches of the Amazon River appear from orbit under reflected sunlight. The shuttle is now into it's second orbit.


15)Now time to take the Manned Maneuvering Unit out for a spin...


16)The MMU is now behind the shuttle for an inspection of the main engines and rear RCS thrusters. This view best illustrades the differences between the tail-end of the Buran and the NASA shuttle.


17)Now for a closeup of the cockpit...


18)Now into our 8th orbit: By this shot, the MMU has long been recovered. The only real signifince of this shot is the Florida Peninsula below, as this is the closest I will come to a flyover of the Kennedy Space Center during this flight...


19)Now into the 16th orbit: Since a full day has passed since launch, Buran's projected orbital path once again crosses over Baikonur, which means it's time for re-entry. The payload has been released into orbit for future retrival, the bay doors are closed, and the main engines are now firing to slow the shuttle down for re-entry: At this point it's over Argentina...


20)The shuttle is just entering the upper atmosphere and already it's getting really hot from the friction: Right now, it's over north-eastern Iran.


21)As the atmosphere steadily thickens, so does to heat from from friction: the shuttle's heat shield tiles are now white-hot: It's currently over the Caspian Sea.


22)The shuttle has emerged from the re-entry blackout and is now slow enough to maneuver using it's control surfaces: I've overshot where I intended to come down, but it should still be close enough to glide back to a landing at Baikonur if I'm careful.


23)The shuttle is now on approach: in the background is the launchpad where the journey began...


24)Now on finals...


25)On the ground again, with the braking drogue deployed. Here ends the journey: The shuttle was aloft for 25 hours and circled the Earth 16 times...

You're mental.


I'd read about the Kosmolyot, but haven't been able to find out much about the Buran at all, where are you getting your info? The complete launch vehicle looks awfully off-centre, even more so than the shuttle which compensates with it's own 3 main engines. I also freel that outright stealing the US design was just another sign of how bankrupt the soviet system really was, not just in terms of money.

FWARRRRRRRRRRRR.

Sweet.

Kenny_10_Bellys wrote:I'd read about the Kosmolyot, but haven't been able to find out much about the Buran at all, where are you getting your info?

Just do a google search for "Buran" and you'll get a plethora of useful links on the 1st page alone...

The complete launch vehicle looks awfully off-centre, even more so than the shuttle which compensates with it's own 3 main engines.

That was a problem, but it wasn't really a major one, given that it could easily be compensated for by by the thrust-vector controls on the Energia's engines. In any case, this apparent drawback was more than worth it given the versatility of the Energia launcher, which could launch many payloads into orbit, unlike the STS launcher which can carry the STS and only the STS, given that it relies in part on the shuttle's main engines.

I also freel that outright stealing the US design was just another sign of how bankrupt the soviet system really was, not just in terms of money.

Well, only the external shape was copied from the NASA design: the "guts" of the shuttle were produced entirely domestically by the Soviets, as was the Energia launch system. As I mentioned earlier, the Buran turned out to be superior: Since it doesn't need the big main engines of the STS, it has the spare room and weight to carry 20% more cargo into orbit than the STS, and it could carry 33% more cargo down to Earth from orbit. Also, the elimination of the bulging OMS pods found on the STS helped give the Buran a higher lift-to-drag ratio than the STS (6.5-to-1 vs. 5.5-to-1 for the STS).

Buran's heatshield tile arrangement formula is considered superior as well: On Buran's first and only orbital flight, only 5 tiles were dislodged during re-entry, vs. 15 for Columbia's first flight. Also, Buran made heavy use of automation: It was entirely possible to fly and control the shuttle while it is unmanned through a combination of automated systems and radio remote control...

From a practial perspective, the Buran (had it become operational) would have likely suffered from the same problems as the NASA orbiter, including ridiculous turnaround times and costs. These would be to a lesser degree than the STS due to the more robust heat shield, but not enough to make it a more cost effective launch vehicle than a disposable rocket (which was the whole purpose of both shuttle programs), not by a longshot.

The Buran/Energia program was also the most expensive Soviet space program ever, and is actually believed to have contibuted to their economic collapse. In 2001, there was talk that the Russian government might revive Buran, but it's now certain that that will not happen, given that any funds the Russian space agency could have used to revive it have been allocated to the development of the smaller "Clipper" reusable spaceplane (which will replace the Soyuz capsules)

I would really like to see Energia make a comeback though: In it's ultimate (unbuilt) "Hercules" configuration (with a core nearly twice as long as the shuttle booster version and with eight Zenit boosters), it would be able to lift a whopping 175 metric tons into LEO, vs. 118 MT for the Saturn V...

Yeah, if there's one thing the Russians did well it was build big fuck-off rockets that could throw a payload for miles. They still nicked the design though, a head start they would never have gotten without NASA so I wouldn't go patting them on the back for improving on something when they blatantly stole it and watched how it worked for a while. It's a shame it never really got going in the age of Perestroika, the more shit we having making it to space then the more investment and innovation we'd have too. We now have to hope that the private sub-orbital lob guys or the Chinese force a move back into real space exploration. I for one dont want to be stuck on this rock when the next asteroid strikes!

The program is called "Orbiter"? I've got so many ideas I'd like to do with that program such as watching the astronaut returning to earth without the shuttle.

Kenny_10_Bellys wrote:Yeah, if there's one thing the Russians did well it was build big fuck-off rockets that could throw a payload for miles. They still nicked the design though, a head start they would never have gotten without NASA so I wouldn't go patting them on the back for improving on something when they blatantly stole it and watched how it worked for a while.

Actually no, Russian rocketry is wholly original. The N1 was a totally different
design concept than the Saturn V.

MKSheppard wrote:

Kenny_10_Bellys wrote:Yeah, if there's one thing the Russians did well it was build big fuck-off rockets that could throw a payload for miles. They still nicked the design though, a head start they would never have gotten without NASA so I wouldn't go patting them on the back for improving on something when they blatantly stole it and watched how it worked for a while.

Actually no, Russian rocketry is wholly original. The N1 was a totally different
design concept than the Saturn V.

He's refereing to the Buran not the N1.